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Help needed

#cherryaa @cherryyaa (not sure if either will work)

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense.

Thankfully she loves cheese and milk, so my initial thoughts are more of this, shame about the pasta though as she makes a terrific lasagne.

Although, I recently bought 1kg of almond flour, which I have read is better, so I might try finding a recipe to make some almond flour lasagne sheets, the pasta machine needs to be used again instead of sitting in the cupboard.

If I can get her to test more often that will be a step in the right direction.
The problem being that GP has said only text once a day (morning), I say do it more frequent (before meals and 2 hrs after) and get her own knowledge of what foods (or stress situation - including g living with me ROFL) are doing what to her BG levels.

Let's see how it goes. I haven't been on since my original post as I have been at work, but am currently on two weeks holiday, soon to be a permanent one, hence thought I would pop by again to see any replies,

thanks to all who have responded
 
You can use sliced aubergine, courgette or leek sheets instead of pasta and make a bloody brilliant lasagne from those or maybe a mix of all three?
 
CherryAA

After a lot of hassle and debate, I managed to convince my wife to adopt a higher protein and lower carb content meals approach. Albeit we do love pasta, risotto and curry's and unfortunately chocolate.

It has certainly helped with BG control and to a lesser degree some weight loss.

The other thing that I convinced her to change was drinking of flavoured sparkling water, the artificial sweeteners have the same if not a greater affect that normal sugar.

We still need to find an alternative to bread though.
 
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A square or two of 82% or higher pure chocolate is fine, and it's so flavorful you don't need to eat the whole tablet. (If it's a bit bitter, try it with some walnuts or almonds). As far as rice goes, cauliflower-rice is a fair substitute; I eat it every day in lieu of potatoes, rice and pasta. It really is quite versatile. And there's a pasta made of konjak, in the Netherlands they now sell lasagna sheets if the stuff too, maybe they're available there? No carbs there either. As for bread, check dietdoctor.com for alternative recipies.

I was obese when I only ate one meal a day, as I was never hungry, but when I did eat or drink, the foodstuffs were high in carbs to keep me going. (Hot milk with instant coffee and five huge spoons of sugar kept me going through the day). When I went to a dietician she perscribed a very carb heavy diet, and I ballooned even further; she didn't realise I had insulin resistance due to an ovarian cyst, and metabolic problems due to an underactive thyroid. I was huge, and her diet added 20, 25 extra pounds to what was already a bad situation, and suddenly, poof, I'm diabetic. Right now I follow a ketogenic diet, with intermittent fasting. I eat one or two meals a day. (Eggs, bacon, cheese, mushrooms, meat/fish, cauliflower rice, tuna salads etc) If I snack, it's on cheese, cocktail sausages, olives or nuts. Total carb intake is 20 grams or less a day. And I've dropped 45+ pounds to date. My HbA1c is 34, well in the non-diabetic range, and dropping. So changing the carb intake can make an enormous difference. For both of you. I'm not saying you should go for keto/intermittent fasting, as I realise it's not for everyone... But low carb/high fat could make a big enough change for you; say 60 grams a day, or 75. Check out Dr. Jason Fung's books if you like... They make things quite clear. Better than I can, I think. Stress and steroids will still factor into bloodsugar readings, but with less carbs they should still go lower. And her astma might benefit from it too. (Mine's a lot better. And my mom's copd has improved since she reduced carbs too).
Good luck to both of you!
 
If you are unsure what she is eating it will be difficulty to know her caloric intake. And who does the shopping? Does she eat whilst out visiting your son ? Any attempt to say, change her diet, requires the attempt is not possibly sabotaged
As I understand it, our thyroid gland sets the rate at which our body burns fuel. The the lower the 'burn rate' the more risk of excess food being stored as fat. A correction of the 'burn rate' enables some of the excess to be 'burned off'
Some people in the past used to use excessive doses of thyroid tablets to lose weight, but in excess the raised 'burn rate' uses up nutrients and lead to bone weakness and heart problems.
 
It sounds as if your wife is a very family orientated lady. Perhaps you could go with her sometimes when she visits your son so that you can spend more time together in preparation for your retirement. Do both of you use your local library? They are no longer the 'sh' places of yesteryear but there are a lot of meetings and activities going on there, from lego clubs to family history and art groups, as well as the opportunity to borrow recipe books specifically aimed at people with diabetes. There are self service machines that issue and return books so no-one need know what your wife has taken out if she is embarrassed. If you both have a sweet tooth try making your own chocolate truffles, adding various flavourings and using 85%+ chocolate and cream.
As others have said 'you can lead a horse to water...' Ultimately your wife has to want to help herself, not write herself off as she has been made to feel by the attitude of others. Keep on showing her that you value her for herself, as I am sure that you do, and that you are looking forward to being able to share more time with her when you retire as well as pursuing your own interests.
 

bread is an odd one
This outfit sells crackers that work for things like pate - the chia ones are very low carb .

https://www.lifefood.co.uk/couk_en/raw-crispbreads-and-crackers/chia-hemp-bread ( make sure to check the carb contnt on the various options some are quite high.

For breakfast
you can try baking keto bread
https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/the-keto-bread

or how about something different

try buying some of this stuff
Belazu Aged Balsamic Vinegar 250ml
https://www.ocado.com/webshop/produ...r/35084011?from=search&param=balsamic vinegar

Its ridiculously high carb - but the taste is sensational and you only need a TINY amount.

next time you want for example poached egg, or fried egg, instead of the bread put it on a bed of fresh spinach, sprinkle a tiny bit of the balsamic vinegar onto the spinach.
The tast is utterly sensational- and the look of the dish decadent .

No-one visiting my house has ever tried it and not gone off to try and buy the stuff ( its expensive £13.75 a bottle - but I use it daily & one bottle lasts a couple of months.

Noodless / rice / pasta

There are a number of ranges you can try on amazon
try this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eat-Water-...UTF8&qid=1534509210&sr=8-2&keywords=slim+rice

or look up
Miracle noodles

glad to hear you made progress !
 
That information is something I had been looking for but never seen before. I was so concerned about my BG levels, but seems normal for the most part, except yesterday. I tested prior to eating and had a 5.6. All I ate was 2 eggs, 2 small pieces of bacon & 1 fresh apricot, which I haven't had in years, but decided to try since the carb count is 3.2 according to Atkins. Well I freaked out two hours later when my BG tested 7.9. Who would have thought! That's probably the highest reading I have ever had thanks to one wee apricot. Guess those are off my list as it definitely surpassed the 2mmol. Thanks for the reference point.
 

The same happened to me with a small plum when I was first starting my diabetes journey , but I shot up from the 5s to double figures. The birds got the rest of the punnet.
 
Hello, I feel so sad for your situation, your wife is very lucky to have such an understanding and supportive husband. Most of the previous posts here have made good suggestions.
I agree with you that your wife may be in denial, I believe we need to grieve, I know I did, and some people never fully accept or move on. I sincerely hope that this isn’t the case for your wife.
Maybe showing her the success stories posted here might spark an interest and a desire to try this way of eating for herself, she may find that the satiety from the fat intake suits her, she will feel full on less food and you may then feel more relaxed about her not eating as often. Also this way of eating allows us to eat a lot of foods that we have been conditioned to avoid, for the majority of us these are actually foods we love and may have eaten in secret or felt guilty about so denied eating them, if you know that she loves eggs, bacon etc for example, this is a fantastic low carb breakfast, filling and in no way feels like you are “dieting” or being deprived so could be a good starting point. For many people the changes such as weight loss, lower blood sugars and general well being can be fairly quick and that then becomes a great motivator.
I hope you and your wife can find a way through this difficult phase, as you think that you may be heading towards a potential diabetes diagnoses it might be worth considering trying to follow a lower carb way of eating for yourself and leading by example. My partner loves the fact that he gets egg and bacon or omelettes for breakfast most mornings now, it’s not just an occasional weekend “treat” they are now my breakfasts of choice as I no longer eat cereal or have toast and he loves it, he’s not diabetic but is happy to join in this part of my new eating habits, your wife may respond positively too.
 
It's been a while since I have been on the forum, thanks for those that have added further suggestions and for the hugs.

@jayney27
Thanks for the meal suggestions.
Unfortunately my wife doesn't eat eggs much, she gets some reaction to them but can't recall what though.
She does eat them, but it wouldn't be a daily option that's for sure.
Unfortunately she also dislikes fish, the smell taste etc, however whilst we were in Scotland recently she did have fresh I dyed haddock with poached egg(s).

Since removing flavoured waters and cutting carbs (she does love her white bread toast though) she has definitely seen the numbers drop, but not stabilise. The GP wants her in the 7-9 range, although that's the same one that I wrote the original post about, so we don't really value what he says and the wife now refuses to see him.


@Phoenix55
Strangely enough we have just bought some chocolate moulds.
Whilst in Scotland we went to two different chocolatiers and I then read a short article about making ones own truffles, so we will give it a try. It's a bit of an indulgence, but we both enjoy cooking.
I like the idea of mixing cream with the dark chocolate, it both sweetens it somewhat and increase the fat and milk content, both on the low carb shopping list.
 


We normally visit our son together, on a few occasions if I have another commitment she may go on her own.

My wife has historicaly been the main shopper, certainly for small shopping lists, for the weekly or bulk ones I always go to give a hand lifting and carrying. We are both guilty over the years of putting the wrong things in the trolley though, we are getting better, but sometimes it's a oh well what the heck moment, the last X days/weeks/months have taken there toll and it's time for a treat.
 
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